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Headmaster's Blog Friday 2nd March

In a week where I thought I might be suffering from Winter Olympics withdrawal syndrome, we have had plenty of our own snow sports to get involved with, courtesy of the Beast from the East. The sledding, snowball and snowman session on Wednesday afternoon, enjoyed under a cloudless blue sky, will linger long in the memory for some time. In particular, I will cherish the moment at which my own snowball beat the fruitless defensive efforts of Newman Jnr, to burst like a firework off his bobble hat. Poetry in motion. I will gloss over the barrage of return fire that ensued...

With so many schools closing for a day or two, one might say we were fortunate to stay open. In fact, luck doesn’t enter into it - that our staff will make just about any possible travel arrangement to get themselves into school says everything you need to know about them and, as always, I am hugely grateful to the whole team. Safety, of course, remains paramount and I am sorry for the times when our regular buses were cancelled - it would simply have been reckless to press on.

Next Monday, all children in Years 3 to 8 will be taking part in the Inter-House General Knowledge Quiz. Each pupil will grapple with their own set of age-appropriate questions and so will have the opportunity to contribute to the success of their own House. Individuals with the highest totals will still take part in an Academic Challenge next term, but I hope you will agree that it is also important for us to stage a non-selective competition as well. Some may wish to read ‘First News’ from cover to cover this weekend!

A big thank you to Chris Bradford and Miles Salter for visiting us this week, inspiring the next generation of best-selling authors and poets. Some of the costumes for World Book Day were just awesome and so much fun. My personal favourite was Henry Key as Mr Twit (complete with balloons) and can only imagine that he was beaten by very stiff competition not to claim the Form Prize! Doubtless, there will have been some who couldn’t make it in on Thursday, were forced home early or had deliveries that were delayed by the snow. To give everyone a fair chance to impress, pupils are welcome to make the most of World Book Day 2 (Revisited) on Tuesday 6th March, where they can opt to either dress up or stay in uniform.

Finally, and speaking of dressing up, can I please ask for your support with regard to uniform. Your child’s blazer is probably one of the more expensive items in their wardrobe and I think it is a shame that some do not wear it more often than Monday morning and Friday afternoon! From Monday, staff will be insisting that children wear their blazers to and from school, so woe betide the pupil that reports to de-reg without it on their back! They then must wear it to assembly and whenever going to church, but at other times it will be optional and up to them to decide. Thank you in advance for your help.